Cabinet Corner is a periodic feature of LMU This Week where the university’s executive leaders share their perspectives with the community. The President’s Cabinet will provide updates on initiatives, policies, events, challenges, and areas of interest.
Thomas Poon, executive vice president and provost, writes:
In March of this year LMU announced the opening of the Dream Center in fall ’23. After an extensive search that included feedback and collaboration from and with LMU students, faculty, and staff, we brought in the talented María Barragán as our inaugural director of the Dream Center. María swiftly set about learning the history of undocumented student activism and support at LMU, making connections within the LMU community, and exploring opportunities to further our commitment to undocumented students and families at LMU.
One thing quickly became clear to María, and later to myself and the leaders who support the work that must be done on campus to be successful and supportive in this endeavor — we need to rename the Dream Center. The undocumented student community at LMU is broad, and the term “Dream” or “Dreamer” may no longer be an inclusive term that captures the level of support we aim to offer.
As mentioned in our initial announcement, “Dreamer” is a term that refers to young people impacted by the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. While we wait for our Congress to take action, we will ignite the change we want to see in the world by supporting our vibrant community of undocumented and DACAmented students as well as students from mixed status households. For this reason, we are renaming the Dream Center “Undocumented Student Support Services.”
I am grateful for María’s bold leadership and expertise on this matter, and forever grateful to the many LMU students, faculty, and staff who have been supporting our undocumented students through grassroots efforts for decades. We have much work left to do, but I am heartened to see our campus community’s long standing efforts have a permanent home on our campus. Keep an eye out for more information about Undocumented Student Support Services in the coming months, and be sure to stop by Wellness Wednesday in the coming weeks to meet María in person and learn about her vision to raise awareness about the varied intersectionalities in the undocumented community.